Five Obsessions (April 2025)
Five Obsessions covers five of my favorite songs or albums each month. Some new, some old. Some new to me, some revisited. Published in the middle of every month (typically on the second Saturday).
You can listen to the running list of Applied Science favorites in the Spotify playlist below and read about this week’s specific picks below that. For this month’s edition of Five Obsessions, I am trying something new. One sentence reviews. Who needs more than that?
Heran Dawson - “IS THERE STILL TIME”
How bold, how self-assured, how Prince-ian to fight for someone’s affection and yet invite them to find love with another, knowing they can never replace you.
Kelela - In The Blue Light
Stripped to the essence, Kelela unearths the timeless core from her otherwise thoroughly modern catalog.
girlsweetvoiced - “u & me”
As long as it needs to be, as light as the first minutes of a day without responsibility.
BaianaSystem - “Batukerê”
I don’t understand any of what is being sung on BainaSystem’s “Batukerê” because I don’t speak Portuguese, but the band’s spirit transcends borders, mental and physical.
Joe McDuphrey Experience / Madlib - “Solar Waves”
We could all use an altar ego as cool as any of Madlib’s many personas.
Even though so much of Los Angeles has returned to a sense of eerie normalcy, the loss from January’s fires remains immeasurable and many people still need help. As usual, please see a list of resources for fire recovery below.
LA Country has launched an exhaustive website with resources for preparedness and recovery (including links for debris removal and right of entry forms). The site is updated regularly (most recently on 3/10/25).
Mutual Aid Network of Los Angeles’s provides an expansive number of funds, organizations, and aid types across the expanse of the city. Additionally, it provides a powerful tool for finding specific aid types. A great place to start for anyone looking to do some good or in need of assistance.
A book/PDF written for parents to help explain the enormity of wildfire to their children.
PBS SoCal’s resources for how to talk to children about wildfires.
A U.S. government fact sheet on protecting children from wildfire smoke and ash.
A spreadsheet of GoFundme’s for Black families from Altadena who have been displaced or lost their homes. Altadena is one of Los Angeles’ historically Black centers, a place where generations of hard-earned wealth and equity in the land were decimated in a matter of days. (first seen via Saul Williams)